2019 Honda CB300R Announced for America

It took a while longer than we had hoped, but American Honda has finally announced the new Neo-Sports Café-inspired CB300R is coming to the United States as a 2019 model. At $4,649 for the base model and $4,949 with ABS, the 2019 Honda CB300R is priced $300 higher than the 2018 CB300F which it will replace.

First Look: 2018 Honda CB125R And CB300R

For that extra three Benjamins, you get the Neo-Sports Café styling resembling the new CB1000R, following an industry trend of a modern take on old-school aesthetics. The round headlight, radiator guards, two-step seat all look similar to the CB1000R. The sculpted fuel tank also shares the same shape as the CB300R’s big brother, though it does sacrifice some volume, carrying just 2.7 gallons of fuel (compared to the CB300F’s 3.4-gallon tank).

The engine remains the same 286cc Single found in the CB300F (and the faired CBR300R). For the CB300R, Honda refined the intake path and added a new underslung exhaust with a dual-chamber muffler. Along with a significant weight reduction (a claimed 317 pounds, down from the CB300F’s claimed 348 pounds), Honda claims the new intake helped improve initial acceleration by 4%.

While the CB300F had the frame and pivot plates as a single unit, the CB300R uses a new high-tensile steel tube frame with separate steel pivot plate. According to Honda, this new design reduces the amount of stress transferred from the rear wheel to the main frame between the head and seat rail. The design also allowed Honda to optimize the strength of each piece separately, using thinner materials and reducing weight.

The swingarm is also new, with thicker material at the cross member but tapering towards the rear axle. The new 17-inch aluminum wheels with five Y-shaped spokes resembles the design of the larger CB1000R.

The suspension system is comprised of a 41mm inverted fork and a revised single rear shock with seven steps of spring preload adjustment. Nissin supplies the radial-mount four piston front brake caliper and 296mm front disc and the rear wheel’s 220mm disc and single-pot caliper. An IMU-controlled two-channel ABS is an available option.